Search Results for: anaphylaxis

In May 2001, CBC Radio aired a first-person radio documentary about living with food allergies. It was called “A Nutty Tale,” and featured Sabrina Shannon, a vivacious girl who captured listeners’ hearts. Two years later, Sabrina tragically died from an anaphylactic reaction at her high school. But her legacy – and her voice – live [...]

One of the biggest challenges for people with food allergies is to figure out exactly what’s causing the problem. North American diets are complex, and on any given day, we might ingest dozens, if not hundreds, of different ingredients. So what’s making your heart race and your skin break out in hives, or giving you [...]

A food allergy occurs when a person’s immune system identifies proteins in a food as allergenic and begins to produce antibodies – called Immunoglobulin E or IgE – to guard against that food (e.g. shellfish or peanuts). These antibodies attach themselves to mast cells in the body, and when the person again eats the allergenic [...]

Do you sometimes feel sick to your stomach not long after eating? Have you noticed a pattern in the types of food you eat when this occurs? Perhaps you have experienced unexplained skin rashes (known as hives) or vomiting or diarrhea? Does your child refuse to eat a certain food, or complain that it makes [...]

Do you sometimes feel sick to your stomach not long after eating? Have you noticed a pattern in the types of food you eat when this occurs? Perhaps you have experienced unexplained skin rashes (known as hives) or vomiting or diarrhea? Does your child refuse to eat a certain food, or complain that it makes [...]

European scientists have discovered that despite popular belief, peanuts may not be the allergen that causes the most severe allergic reactions. In one important study, discussed at the the 2010 meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, that dubious distinction fell to the cashew. The study, published in the European journal Allergy, [...]

Milk and egg allergies mostly affect children. Since children usually become allergic to milk and egg as toddlers, there are extra precautions that need to be taken simply due to the age of the child. Very young children do tend to put everything within reach in the mouth, including their own hands. This can present [...]

With songs like “Smellephant the Allergic Elephant,” the kids think Kyle Dine rocks. He has been strumming a guitar since he was 10. Now at the age of 23, Kyle Dine has played many a coffee shop and open mike night in his hometown of Kingston, Ontario. But along the way, it seems that Dine, [...]

Angela Brown was anxious about returning to work after maternity leave. The day before she was to be back at her office in Toronto, she left her 8-month-old daughter, Brigit, with her new nanny for a few hours while she ran errands. “I had forgotten something and came back,” she recalls, “and that’s when it [...]